Campaign targets oil drilling

The Indiana Public Interest Research Group is sponsoring an e-mail campaign to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Bill Clinton will decide whether to declare the area a National Monument. The e-mail drive is part of a nationwide action day.\nDrilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the major conservation issues in the presidential electives. This is because of the endangered porcupine, caribou, musk ox and more than 180 bird species that use the area for breeding, nesting and migratory stops, said INPIRG Media Coordinator Barnaby Aaron, a junior.\nThe U.S. Department of the Interior estimated that 3.2 billion barrels of economically recovered oil are in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. At present rates of usage, this would be enough oil to supply the country for six months, and if drilling began today, the oil would be available in seven to 10 years, according to an INPIRG press release.